Why You Should Never Flush After You Pee

Growing up, lots of us were familiar with a toilet-themed rhyme: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.”

Not the most poetic words ever written, but they get the job done. The simple, memorable stanza helps to remind people of all ages how to save water and follow toilet etiquette.

That’s because, just like showering every single day, flushing the toilet every time you “go” is wasteful and indulgent.

Still, it’s a bad habit that a lot of us fall into, mostly because it doesn’t feel socially acceptable to skip flushing the toilet.

It’s always a good idea to flush “number 2,” but if it’s just pee? It’s about time to change our approach to flushing.

Studies call it “toilet plume,” and it’s what happens when you flush and send up a spray of yuck into the air around you.

Flushing as infrequently as possible (and keeping the lid down when you do) can seriously cut back on how many germs are floating around your bathroom.

Every time you flush the toilet, you’re using a whole heck of a lot of water to pull the waste away.

If you have a super-spiffy, efficient toilet, you’re probably only using about 1.5 gallons a flus — but older toilets use an average of 3-5 gallons of water, and in some cases may even use as much as 7 gallons.

If you flush every single time you pee (6-10 times a day), you’re wasting 9 gallons of water at best every day.

Every time you flush the toilet, you’re using a whole heck of a lot of water to pull the waste away.

It’s a common misconception that pee is sterile. Technically, that’s not the case, but it’s not too far off the mark.